Against Celsus 1.45
Summary: Origen recalls telling Jewish scholars that they cannot believe Moses' miracles while rejecting Jesus'; indeed the prophecies of Jesus prove Moses a true prophet.
Greek text · Koetschau 1:95
Μέμνημαι δέ ποτε ἔν τινι πρὸς Ἰουδαίων λεγομένους σοφοὺς διαλέξει χρησάμενος τοιούτῳ λόγῳ, πλειόνων κρινόντων τὸ λεγόμενον· „εἴπατέ μοι, ὦ οὗτοι, δύο τινῶν ἐπιδημησάντων τῷ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένει, περὶ ὧν παράδοξα καὶ ὑπὲρ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν ἀναγέγραπται, Μωϋσέως λέγω, τοῦ ὑμῶν νομοθέτου περὶ ἑαυτοῦ ἀναγράψαντος, καὶ Ἰησοῦ, τοῦ ἡμετέρου διδασκάλου μηδὲν περὶ ἑαυτοῦ τοῦ σύγγραμμα καταλελοιπότος ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ τῶν μαθητῶν ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις μεμαρτυρημένου· τίς ἡ ἀποκλήρωσις πιστεύεσθαι μὲν Μωϋσέα ὡς ἀληθεύοντα, καίτοι γε Αἰγυπτίων διαβαλλόντων αὐτὸν ὡς γόητα καὶ μαγγανείᾳ τὰς δυνάμεις πεποιηκέναι δοκοῦντα, Ἰησοῦν δὲ ἀπιστεῖσθαι, ἐπεὶ ὑμεῖς αὐτοῦ κατηγορεῖτε; ἔθνη γὰρ ἀμφοτέροις μαρτυρεῖ. Ἰουδαῖοι μὲν Μωϋσεῖ, Χριστιανοὶ δὲ μὴ ἀρνούμενοι τὴν Μωϋσέως προφητείαν ἀλλὰ κἀκεῖθεν ἀποδεικνύντες τὰ περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ παραδέχονται τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ ἀληθῆ εἶναι παράδοξα ὑπὸ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ ἀναγεγραμμένα. εἴτε γὰρ λόγον ἀπαιτεῖτε ἡμᾶς περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ἀπόδοτε περὶ Μωϋσέως τοῦ πρὸ αὐτοῦ γενομένου πρότερον. εἶθʼ ἑξῆς ἡμεῖς ἀποδώσομεν τὸν περὶ τούτου· ὑμῶν δʼ ἀναδυομένων καὶ φευγόντων τὰς περὶ ἐκείνου ἀποδείξεις, ὡς μὲν πρὸς τὸ παρὸν τὸ ὅμοιον ὑμῖν ποιοῦντες οὐκ ἀποδεικνύομεν. οὐδὲν δὲ ἧττον ὁμολογήσατε τὸ μὴ ἔχειν δεῖξιν περὶ Μωϋσέως καὶ ἀκούσατε τὰς περὶ Ἰησοῦ ἀποδείξεις ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου καὶ τῶν προφητῶν. καὶ τὸ παράδοξόν γε ἐκ τῶν περὶ Ἰησοῦ ἀποδείξεων ἐν νόμῳ καὶ προφήταις ἀποδείκνυται ὅτι καὶ Μωϋσῆς καὶ οἱ προφῆται ἦσαν προφῆται τοῦ θεοῦ.“
English · Claude translation
I remember once, in a debate with some Jews who were said to be wise, using this argument, with many people judging what was said: "Tell me, sirs: two men have come to dwell among the human race about whom extraordinary things, beyond human nature, have been recorded—I mean Moses, your lawgiver, who wrote about himself, and Jesus, our teacher, who left no writing of his own about himself but is witnessed to by his disciples in the Gospels. What arbitrary choice is it that Moses is believed as telling the truth, although the Egyptians slander him as a sorcerer who seemed to do his mighty works by trickery, while Jesus is disbelieved because you accuse him? For nations bear witness to both: the Jews to Moses, and the Christians, who do not deny the prophetic office of Moses but prove from it the things about Jesus, accept as true the extraordinary things about him recorded by his disciples. If you demand from us an account of Jesus, first give one of Moses, who came before him, and then we will give ours about him. But if you back away and flee from the proofs about Moses, then for the present we will do the same as you and give no proof. Nevertheless, admit that you have no demonstration about Moses, and hear the proofs about Jesus from the law and the prophets. And the remarkable thing is that from the proofs about Jesus in the law and the prophets it is proved that both Moses and the prophets were prophets of God."
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The (??) in the digital text is in the name Μωϋσέως, which is certain.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (breathing mark for diaeresis; stray period inside the sentence; unread character in a certain name): λόγῳ. πλειόνων → λόγῳ, πλειόνων; Μωὑσέως λέγω → Μωϋσέως λέγω; τὴν Μω(??)σέως προφητείαν → τὴν Μωϋσέως προφητείαν; περὶ Μω(??)σέως τοῦ πρὸ → περὶ Μωϋσέως τοῦ πρὸ; περὶ Μω(??)σέως καὶ ἀκούσατε → περὶ Μωϋσέως καὶ ἀκούσατε.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 1.45 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/45/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 1.45 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/45/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text